Rubber footwear and method of making same



March 4-. J. E. TABER 1,952,473

RUBBER FOOTWEAR AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed June 8, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet 1 0Z4 W m g J. E. TABER March 27, 1934.

RUBBER FOOTWEAR AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed June 8. 1931 [/Wmzw Jami7356/ 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 27, 1934 FlC'E RUBBER, FOOTWEAB ANDMETHOD OF MAKENG Stilt IE John E. Taber, South Bend, Ind, assignor toMishawaka Rubber and Woolen Manufacturing Company, Mishawaka, 11111., acorporation of Indiana Application June 8, 1931, Serial No. 542,709

5 Ciaims.

My invention relates to rubber footwear of the character's/herein theupper is provided with fold like portions forming a pocketed opening forexpansion and contraction, and has reference more particularly to theconstruction of said fold like portions and the manner in which theupper is provided therewith.

In the manufacture of rubber footwear of the character above referredto, it is a common practice to build the main portion of the upper andthe fold like portions conjointly,that is, the fold forming portions area constituent part of the rest of the upper. In my present constructionhowever, the main portion of the upper is first assembled as a plainform fitting leg covering unit after which the fold like portions, whichin the completed boot afford extra fullness for expansibility, arelocated where required and secured on the exterior of the leg coveringunit which is slitted or divided at the location of the fold likeportions so that the latter are free to open up.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide an improvedexpansible structure for footwear and method of making same; to providean expansible structure which is readily applicable to various types ofrubber footwear and at any desired place on the upper; to obviate thenecessity of constructing the expansion folds as a constituent part ofthe main portion of the upper; to permit the main portion of the upperto be assembled as a plain form fitting leg cover ing and the expansionfolds to be separately prepared and applied thereon at the locationwhere expansibility is desired; to insure a neat close fitting expansionstructure; and in general to simplify and. facilitate the constructionof footwear with a form fitting expansible upper.

On the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an overshoe constructed in accordancewith my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the assembled main portion of the upper readyfor the expansion folds or pocket members to be applied thereon;

Fig. 3 is an outside View of the assembled expansion fold member for theright side of the overshoe;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the inner side of the expansion foldmember of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig.1;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a form fitting boot having an expansibleportion at the ankle and instep constructed in acordance with myinvention;

Fig. '7 is a similar view showing the lower portion of the boot asprepared for application of the expansion fold members thereto;

Figs. 8 and 9 are views of the outer and inner W sides respectively ofthe assembled expansion fold Q member for the right side of the boot ofFig. 6;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on the line iii-10 ofFig. 6;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view of a boot similar to that of Fig. 6 buthaving expansion fold mem- 5' bers of a different form;

Figs. 12 and 13 are views of the outer and innersides respectively ofthe assembled expansion fold member for the right side ofthe structureof Fig. 11; and

Fig. 14: is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on the line 14-14 ofFig. 11.

Referring'tc the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 to 5 thereof,which show an overshoe of a well known type having an expansion openingat the front extending to the top of the overshoe and closed by a foldedpocket member with lacing flies at opposite sides of the opening, thereference numeral 15 indicates the lining and 16 the rubber facing ofwhat is termed herein the 6 main portion of the upper, which isassembled'in close fitting manner on the last 1'7 which correspondssubstantially in form and size to the foot and leg upon which theovershoe is to be worn.

This close fitting main portion of the upper may be made up in anyconvenient manner, preferably with the lining composed of a toe and vampcovering section 18 and a leg and heel covering section 19, which saidsections are joined together at the front of the angle and down thesides substantially at the location of the marking 20 in a manner wellknown in the art, the section 19 being drawn rearwardly around the lastand having the edges joined together at the back 5 and both sectionsbeing lasted over the insole which .is not shown. These lining sections18 and 19 may be prepared with a facing layer of rubber thereon beforeassembling on the last, or the rubber facing 16 may be applied on thelining after the latter is assembled, either in sec-v tionscorresponding substantially to the lining sections 18 and 19 orotherwise, so that the upper is entirely covered with the rubber facing,the usual'rag heel indicated by dotted lines at 21 in Fig. 2, beingincorporated. in the upper and the latter provided with the rubber facedback stay 22 and such other reinforcing as it is customary or desirableto employ in overshoes of thistype. The sole 23 and heel 24 are alsopreferably prono vided at this time although it is evident that these aswell as any other parts that are not located where the expansion foldmembers are to be attached may be assembled after the latter have beensecured in place.

After this form fitting main portion of the upper has been completed inthe manner outlined above, an expansion fold or pocket member isadhesively secured thereon at each side, the member for the right sidebeing shown in Figs. 3 and l and the one for the left side beingsimilarly constructed except that the parts are reversed to afford therequired left hand arrangement. These expansion fold members may be madeup in various ways, a satisfactory form being shown herein having anouter wall made up of a layer 25 of fabric faced with a layer 26 ofrubber, and an inner wall made up of a layer 27 of fabric and the facinglayer 28 of rubber, said walls being adhesively joined together for aconsiderable width along their forward edges substantially back to theline 29, to provide lacing dies for eyelets 30, and the rubber layersbeing preferably extended slightly beyond the fabric along the forwardedges to come together therebeyond as indicated at 31 in Fig. 5 andcover the edges of the fabric. A lining 32 is adhesively secured to theopposed faces of the fabrics 25 and 2'? with a fold along their junctureline 29 serving to reinforce U the connection between the outer andinner Walls,

and the latter wall, together with the portion of the lining 32 thereon,is folded forwardly along the line 33, the upper end of said inner Wallat the rear of the line 29 being preferably cut away =as shown at 34,substantially at right angles to the fold 33.

The rubber facings 26 and 28 are preferably extended beyond theirrespective fabrics 25 and 2'7 at the open side of the expansion foldmember as shown at 35 in Figs. 4 and 5, and the fabrics 25 and 27 arelikewise extended beyond the corresponding edges of the lining 32 andthe inwardly facing edge portions of the lining 32, fabrics 25 and 2'7and facings 26 and 28 are coated with .a rubber cement along the sidesand at the bottom of the side opening of the expansion fold member asindicated by the shaded area 36 in Fig. 4, in preparation for adhesiveapplication to the assembled main portion of the overshoe upper.

After the right and left hand expansion fold members have been preparedas above, they are adhesively secured to the respective sides of theassembled form fitting overshoe upper, the right hand fold member havingthe cemented area 36 thereof applied to the shaded area 3'? of theassembled upper of Fig. 2 and the left hand fold member being applied ina similar manner on the opposite side of the overshoe upper, the edgesof the expansion members being rolled down into firm adhering contactwith the rubber facing of the upper and the extended edges 35 of the rubber layers 26 and 28 of the expansion member affording a rubber torubber connection with the ;rubber facing of the upper so as tothoroughly seal ;the front in any convenient manner, as for example by alacing engaged through the eyelets 30, to hold the expansion foldmembers in shape during vulcanization, and then the assembled overshoeis vulcanized in the usual manner. After vulcanization, the temporaryconnection of the flies across the front of the overshoe is released andthen the side walls of the overshoe upper are slitted down the sideswithin the space defined by the shaded area 37 of Fig. 2 where theexpansion pocket members have been joined to the form fitting upper, apiece preferably being cut out substantially along the dotted line 38 ofFig. 2 so that the expansion fold members open up to permit enlargementof the upper, and the overshoe may then be readily removed from thelast. The top edge of the portion of the upper in front of the openings38 is also preferably trimmed at each side along the line 39 so as toconform to the upper edge 34 of the inner wall of the respectiveexpansion member.

Buckles, snaps or other forms of fastenings may of course be employedinstead of the lacing for connecting the expansion fold members at thefront of the overshoe and these expansion members may be modified inform and construction as will be evident from other applications of myinvention hereinafter disclosed. Moreover the form fitting upper may bepartially out along the line 38, before the expansion members areapplied thereon, so as to facilitate the dividing of the side wallsafter vulcanization, or the overshoe upper may be made up with theportion of the rubber facing 16 at the cut out places 38 omitted,leaving the lining alone to be cut away after vulcanization. 7

Referring now to Figs. 6 to 14 of the drawings which show the employmentof my invention in a form fitting rubber boot to provide an expansibleankle and instep portion, Figs. 6 to 10 inclusive illustrate one form ofexpansion structure having flaps of Blucher type. In this Blucher typeboot of Figs. 6 to 10, a rubber faced form fitting upper is made up inany convenient manner, for example as shown in Fig. 7 wherein thereference numeral 40 indicates the last and 41 and 42 the two sides orquarters of the lining which are joined together down the front by thetape 43, secured together at the back by a similar tape or byoverlapping and adhesively uniting the edges, and lasted over the insolewhich is not shown. A toe covering d4 of rubber is applied over thelining and lasted over the insole and the rest of the upper is formed ofthe two quarters 45 and 46 which are joined together at the front andback, overlap the upper and rear edge of the rubber toe covering 44, asindicated at a7, and are lasted over the insole. Other parts, such asreinforcings etc. may be incorporated in this upper but these are notshown as they are not essential to an understanding of my invention.After this form fitting upper has been prepared in this manner it ispartially cut at each side of the ankle and instep along the lines 48 byrunning a stitch wheel therealong or otherwise so that the intermediateportion may be subsequently separated along the sides from the rest ofthe upper, these lines however being spaced apart at their upper andlower ends so that said intermediate portion remains integral with andpermanently attached at its upper and lower ends to the boot upper.

Right and left hand expansion pocket members of any suitableconstruction and 0f fold like form are then secured to this assembledform fitting upper around the respective lines of separation 48, each ofsaid expansion members in the illustrated structure having an outer wallcomprising a reinforcing fabric 49, an outer facing layer 50 of rubberand a fabric lining 51, and an inner wall comprising the fabric lining.the'out'er wall lining 51.

52 with a' facing layer 53 of rubber. These two Walls are joinedtogether along their forward edges and'at the bottom beyond theline 54(see Figs. 8 and- 9) a rubber strip 55 being'provided on the outwardlyfacing sideof the rubber layer 53 along the forward and loweredges ofthe'latter and havingthe forward edge of the inner wall lining 52extended thereover and adhesively secured thereto and having the forwardedge of the outer wall lining 51 also adhesivfely secured theretoimmediately beyond the forward edge of the lining 52 as shown in Fig.10; The reinforcing fabric 49 is adhesively secured .to'theputer face ofthe lining 51 throughout the area of the latter, and beyond the. forwardedge of this lining 51 is adhesively secured to the rubber strip 55,which said strip, as well as the rubber layers 50 and 53 extend slightlybeyond the forward and lower edges of the reinforcingfabric 49 and areconsolidated to seal said edges of the fabric.

The outer wall 49; 50, 51 of the expansion member extendsbeyond the rearand top edge of the inner wall'52, 53 and has a projecting portion 56 atthe lower end overlying the lowermost corner of the innerwall 52, 53,all as shown in Fig. 9, and the outer rubber layer 50 of theoute'r wallprojects along the rear and at the upper and lower ends of thereinforcing fabric 49 as indicated' at 57, and the rear edge andupperand lower ends of this reinforcing fabricate preferably extend beyondthe corresponding edges'of The lining 52 of the inner wall may, ifdesired, be'co-extensive along the rear and at the. upper and lower endswith the rubber layer 53 of the inner wall of the expansion member,although it is preferred to extend the rubber layer 53 slightly at theseplaces. After the right and left expansion members have been prepared inthe manner above described, rubber cement is applied thereto along therear edge portions and at the upper and lower ends of the inner andouter walls, as indicated by the shaded area 58 in Fig. 9, and thiscemented area of the right hand expansion member is applied to theshaded area 59 on the right hand side of the assembled upper of Fig. '7entirely around the dividing line 48 and the cemented area of the lefthand member is applied in like manner around the dividing line 48 on theleft hand side of the assembled upper. These cemented edges are rolleddown in firm adherence and it will be noted that there is exposed rubberentirely around the opening into the ex-' pansion member which, when thesaid member is applied in place, affords a rubber to rubber connectionentirely around the dividing line 48 so that the juncture of theexpansion member with the boot wall is thoroughly sealed againstleakage.

These expansion fold members are preferably arranged on the boot upperso that they meet in edge to edge relationat the front of the boot asshown in Fig. 6, and they may be fastened together in any convenientmanner, as for example, with the well known ladder type buckles 60 whichhave the mounting tabs 61 thereof adhesively secured to the outer wallsof the expansion fold members. These buckles may be employed to hold theexpansion members in the closed edge to edge relation duringvulcanization or if desired a connecting tape may be applied under themeeting edges of these expansion fold members and divided aftervulcanization to perunit separation thereof.

After the expansion fold members have been applied. onthe assembled formfitting upper, a tape*62' of rubber is preferably applied down the frontofthe boot the lower end, which terminates just below the upper ends ofthe expansion fold members, is rolled down securely thereover to finishand reinforce same. An outer rubber layer 63 may also be applied overthe toe and'around the foot portion of the boot, this layer 53 beingpreferably provided with a pointed portion or fitting up between theflared lower ends of the flaps which are formed by he ex pansion'foldmembers, and the portions of this layer 63 immediately adjacent theportion 64 overly and are rolled down securely onto the end portions 56(see Figs. 8 and 9) of the front walls of the expansion fold members andserve as a reinforcing for same. The sole 65 and heel 65 are thenapplied the usual manner after which the boot is vulcanized, and afterthe buckles 60 or other means that may be emplayed to connect theexpansion fold members or side flaps are released and the wall oftheboot manipulated at opposite sides of the dividing lines 43 to breakthe connection along said lines so that the boot may be removed from thelast. a

In Fig. 11 I have showna form of boot similar to that of Fig. 6 exceptthat the expansion folds or pocket flaps are not of the Biucher type andthe expansion members are of a different construction. In this bootstructure of Fig. 11 a form fitting upper is assembled in substantiallythe same manner as that of Fig. '7 and partially out along linessubstantially corresponding to the lines 28 of said Figure. Theexpansion members, however, are made as shown in Figs. 12, 13 and 14 of.a fiat laminated assembly of rubber layer 6'7, reinforcing fabric 68 andlining fabric 69, and folded along the line so that the portion thatconstitutes the outer wall of the expansion fold extends rearwardly andat the upper and lower ends beyond the front wall portion. The rubberlayer 6'7 is slightly larger than the reinforcing layer 68 so as toproject beyond the latter, and the lining layer 69 is preferablyslightly smaller than the reinforcing layer 68. Along the rear edge ofthe inner wall the layers 67, 68 and 69 are extended between the points71 and 72 vulcanization and folded back as shown in Figs. 13 and 14, in

somewhat the same manner as in the expansion fold members of theovershoe structure of Figs. 1 to 5, and the rear edge portions and upperand lower ends of the inner and outer walls of these expansion foldmembers are provided with a coating of cement as indicated by the shadedarea at 73 in Fig. 13. This cemented area is then applied around therespective dividing line 48 of the assembled boot upper in the samemanner as the expansion fold members of Figs. 6 to 10 and rolled downsecurely in place with the front edges substantially parallel andseparated somewhat as shown in Fig. 11, after which the boot iscompleted and vulcanized in substantially the same manner as the boot ofFigs. 6 to 10.

Any suitable fasteners may be employed with the expansion fold membersof Figs. 12 and 13, a

changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from theprinciples of my invention, the scope of which is to be determined bythe appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an article of rubber footwear the combination of an uppercomprising assembled lining and rubber facing forming a form fittingwall with an upwardly extending opening, and an at tached rubber facedexternally projecting fold like expansion member closing said opening,the rubber facing of the form fitting wall having edge portions alongthe sides of the opening overlapped by and joined directly to marginaledge portions of the rubber facing of the expansion member.

2. In an article of rubber footwear the combination of an uppercomprising an outer layer of rubber and a lining combined to constitutea form fitting wall with a narrow upwardly extending opening at eachside of the instep and leg portion of said wall, separate fold likerubber faced patches applied externally on and having the rubber facingthereof joined to the layer of rubber of the wall along the sides ofsaid openings said fold like patches constituting expansion members thatfold forwardly over the instep and leg portions of the wall and aredetachably connected over the front of the wall.

3. The method of making rubber footwear which comprises preparing a formfitting fabric lined upper of rubber composition, externally applying tothe upper at a pre-determined expansion opening location a fabric linedrubber patch of fold like form and joining the marginal edges of therubber of said patch to the rubber composition of the upper along saidexpansion open-- which comprises assembling a fabric lined form fittingupper of rubber composition on a last, applying a separate fabric linedrubber patch of fold like form on the upper at each side of the instepand leg portion of the upper, and joining the lateral marginal edges ofeach rubber patch to the rubber composition of the upper along the sidesof a narrow upwardly extending area of the upper in which an expansionopening is subsequently to be formed, then laying the attached patchesforwardly against the front of the instep and leg portions of the upper,then vulcanizing the structure and thereafter forming expansion openingsin the upper within the areas covered by the patches.

5. The method of making rubber footwear which comprises assembling on alast a form fitting upper having a lining and an outer facing layer ofrubber, applying a separate rubber covered patch of fold like form ateach side of the instep and leg portion of the upper to cover a narrowupwardly extending area of the upper in which an expansion opening issubsequently to be formed and joining the lateral marginal edges of therubber of each patch to the rubber facing of the upper along the sidesof the respective aforesaid narrow area, then vulcanizing the structureand thereafter forming an upwardly extending expansion opening in theupper within each area covered by the patches.

JOHN E. TABER.

